The bottom line is clear: Our vital interests in Afghanistan are limited and military victory is not the key to achieving them. On the contrary, waging a lengthy counterinsurgency war in Afghanistan may well do more to aid Taliban recruiting than to dismantle the group, help spread conflict further into Pakistan, unify radical groups that might otherwise be quarreling amongst themselves, threaten the long-term health of the U.S. economy, and prevent the U.S. government from turning its full attention to other pressing problems. -- Afghanistan Study Group

Baghdad:#1: Two policemen were wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in northern Baghdad on Friday evening, a security source said. “The IED, planted by unidentified persons on the highway in al-Waziriya neighborhood, northern Baghdad, went off just as a police patrol was driving by, leaving two patrolmen wounded and causing severe damage to the vehicle they were boarding,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency on customary condition of anonymity.

Diyala:#1: Two Iraqi soldiers on Saturday were injured when an explosive device went off near Khanaqin district, according to a local security source. “On Saturday, an improvised explosive device (IED) hit an Iraqi army patrol vehicle in Imam Weiss area (30 km south of Khanaqin), wounding two soldiers,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The wounded, including one in critical condition, have been taken to the hospital,” the source added,

Mosul:#1: A sticky improvised explosive device (IED) went off in front of the house of a judge in the First Ninewa Criminal Court in northern Mosul city on Friday, a local police source said. “The charge went off in front of Judge Kamel Saeed’s house in al-Hai al-Ziraie neighborhood, northern Mosul, but the explosion left no casualties,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A U.S. unmanned aircraft has gone down on an Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) headquarters in southern Mosul city, a media source said on Saturday. “The crash, which occurred in al-Ghazlani area, southern Mosul, caused slight damage to the building,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. There has been no word on casualties, the source noted. No comment was immediately available from the U.S. side.

#3: Police said they had found the body of civilian with bullet wounds to the head and chest in western Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad.

Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"#1: Anti-government militants in the latest wave of attacks against establishments have destroyed boasting tower of a mobile company in Kapisa province, some 80km north from Afghan capital Kabul, a press release of Interior Ministry said here Saturday.

#2: Afghan police back by the U.S.-led Coalition Forces killed eight Taliban militants in the outfit's stronghold Helmand province in southern Afghanistan on Friday, a statement of Interior Ministry issued here on Saturday said. "A group of militants ambushed join convoy of Afghan National Police and Coalition Forces in Nawa district and police returned fire, as a result eight militants were killed and three others injured," the statement added. No causalities on joint forces were reported, it said.

#3: Eighteen Taliban insurgents were killed as they stormed Archi district in the Kunduz province of northern Afghanistan in the wee hours of Saturday, said Mohammad Omar the governor of Kunduz. "A group of armed militants raided the district Headquarter of Archi at around 2 a.m. local time (GMT 2130) when police encountered killing 18 rebels and wounding three," Omar told Xinhua. Taliban purported spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility of the attack, but adding Taliban fighters carried out the attack occupying the HQ of Archi. However, the official rejected the claim by saying "only three police constables were injured in firefight,"

#4: A suicide bomb was detonated outside a bank affiliated with the army in Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province, police said. Ten people were killed and 79 wounded, said Sahibzada Mohammed Anis, a senior government official.

#5: A suicide blast also hit a police station in the province's Bannu district (NWFP) earlier Saturday, killing at least six people and wounding nearly 70 others, police said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack.

#6: A third bomb exploded in the northern town of Gilgit (NWFP), wounding four people, Pakistan's SAMA news channel quoted local police Chief Ali Sher as saying. He described it as a "low-intensity bomb" but provided no further details.

#7: A rocket fired by Afghan security forces during clash with Taliban militants in the northern Baghlan province Saturday left one person dead and injured two others including a child, police said. "Security forces came in contact with Taliban rebels in Shiringali village of Baghlan-e-Markazi district this morning during which a rocket fired by the troops hit a house killing one woman and wounding three others including one child," a police officer Gul Aqa told Xinhua. He also added that the fighting is continuing between the two sides. A similar incident in the eastern Kunar province Friday also left four civilians dead and injured three others.

#8: One policeman was shot dead and another wounded when Taliban gunmen attacked a police checkpoint in western Herat province, some 100 metres from the border with Iran, a security official said. A Taliban spokesman confirmed the group were behind the attack.

#9: Three men were shot dead and one other was hanged by Taliban militants after Friday prayers in the Guzara district of western Herat province, a police spokesman said. A Taliban spokesman said the men were killed for being government spies.